Chapter 37: You Want Him Too?
Iris’s POV
A shock of icy water splashed across my face, jerking me awake from the cold hard floor where I’d fallen asleep last night, my face injury still aching from the salt of my dried tears. My eyes snapped open, blurry at first due to the sun filtering in, as I gasped and scrambled to sit up. The chill from the cold water seeped into my bones. Blinking rapidly, I focused on the maid standing in front of me, her face twisted into a sneer, clutching a small tin bucket still dripping with water.
"What’s wrong with you, sleeping like the dead?" she snapped. "What, are you pregnant or something?" Her lips curled as she tilted her head, eyes glinting with rudeness. "Oh, and I hear your maid duties have been upgraded. Personal maid to Luna Liora now, huh?" She let out a harsh laugh. "She’s waiting for you to clean Kael’s room, so you’d better move now. You know how she can be."
I pushed myself up, my limbs stiff from the night spent on the floor. "You don’t have to be so rude," I said.
She scoffed, tossing her braid over her shoulder. "Be grateful it wasn’t hot water." With that, she turned on her heel and stalked out of the small room I’d been relegated to.
The sudden hatred from the maids was heartbreaking. It hadn’t always been this way. In my past life, I could remember this very maid, Lena, had been kind to me. Back when I was still the Alpha’s daughter, before the lies about my parents’ deaths had branded me a pariah. I could picture her clearly as she fed me while I was a kid.
"Be a good girl and eat your meal," she’d said with a smile but now, that smile and kindness was gone, replaced by a coldness. I didn’t blame her, not really. The pack believed what they’d been told, that I’d killed my parents. The lie had spread uncontrollably and I was too broken to fight it.
I dragged myself to my feet as my eyes fell on the mirror propped against the wall as it revealed a mess of my tangled hair, my eyes puffy and swollen red. I considered a quick shower, maybe just a moment to brush my teeth and feel human again, but Liora’s impatience was something I wasn’t ready to face. It was too early to face her troubles. Instead, I shuffled to the small basin in the corner, splashed water into my mouth, and rinsed it out.
With a sigh, I stretched my muscles and headed to the store room where I took the cleaning items I’ll be needing. I made my way to Kael’s room. Reaching there, I knocked on the door but no answer. Kael was probably out already, playing hockey with his friends on the ice fields of Black Bane, as he did every morning. Assuming the room was empty, I pushed the door open and stepped inside.